Korea Tourism Organization Climbs Three Grades to B in Management Evaluation After Last Year's E Rating

Escaping the Lowest Grade in Public Institution Evaluation... Auditor's Performance Rated D
Kangwon Land and GKL Receive C Grades

The Korea Tourism Organization has moved up from the lowest grade in the public institution management evaluation compared to the previous year. Having received an E grade last year, the Korea Tourism Organization rose three levels to a B grade this year, earning a “Good” evaluation. Such an increase of three grades at once is rare and is being regarded as an exceptional rebound.

Photo of the headquarters building of the Korea Tourism Organization. Photo by Korea Tourism Organization

According to the “2025 Public Institution Management Performance Evaluation Results” announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on June 19, the Korea Tourism Organization received a B grade in the evaluation of 88 public enterprises and quasi-governmental institutions.

The public institution management evaluation does not rank institutions but instead announces results on a six-level scale: S, A, B, C, D, and E. In this year’s evaluation, no institution received an S grade; 15 received an A, 29 received a B, 28 received a C, 13 received a D, and 3 received an E grade.

After receiving a B grade in 2022, the Korea Tourism Organization’s grade fell to C in 2023 and to E in 2024. In this year’s evaluation, it recovered to a B grade. This is a three-level improvement compared to the previous year, meaning that an institution which received the lowest rating last year has returned to the “Good” grade within one year. Since 2014, cases of a three-level increase at once in the public institution management evaluation have been limited to a few institutions, such as Korea Midland Power, Korea Technology Finance Corporation, and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation.

This result is also notable as it is the first management evaluation report since Park Sunghyuk took office as president. The Korea Tourism Organization experienced a prolonged vacancy in the presidency after the resignation of the previous president in January 2024. President Park was inaugurated at the end of last year and officially began his duties earlier this year.

However, since this evaluation is based on the 2025 management performance, it is difficult to interpret the result solely as President Park’s personal achievement. Rather, it can be seen as a signal that the organization is entering a phase of normalization after a long period of leadership vacancy.

Performance among public enterprises in the tourism sector varied. While the Korea Tourism Organization received a B grade, Kangwon Land and Grand Korea Leisure (GKL) each received a C grade, which is considered “Average.” GKL received a “Needs Improvement” rating in the head of institution evaluation and was included among those subject to warnings, while Kangwon Land received a B grade in the auditor’s performance evaluation.

The Korea Tourism Organization received a B grade in the institutional management performance evaluation but received a D grade in the standing auditor’s performance evaluation. As the relevant auditor was no longer in office, the institution was not included among those subject to warnings. The results of the management evaluation are used for determining bonuses for institution heads, executives, and employees, for requiring improvement plans from institutions rated “Needs Improvement” or lower, and for management consulting.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance finalized the results of this evaluation through deliberation and resolution by the Public Institution Operations Committee. This year’s evaluation was conducted based on the 2025 management performance of 31 public enterprises and 57 quasi-governmental institutions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.